I had half-expected someone to confront us when we left the guild—maybe a classic "newbie adventurer hazing" scene—but nothing happened. I guess that kind of scenario really is just for light novels.
"Where should we go?"
"Let’s start by heading straight down the main street. Who knows what we might find?"
We walked side by side down the bustling avenue, but we didn’t get far before something caught our attention.
"We should check out some shops for weapons, armor, and supplies. Maybe we’ll find magic tools too."
"Right, like the ones Master mentioned—powered by magic stones. Those could be really handy."
The closest shop with a sign depicting a sword and shield turned out to be a weapon shop, as expected. A few other adventurers were browsing the selection, examining the wares.
"They’ve got quite the variety," Rio observed.
The store displayed everything from short swords and longswords to spears and axes. There were even ranged weapons like bows and throwing knives. The armor selection ranged from full suits of metal armor to lighter leather chest pieces and robes designed for magic users.
"As far as equipment goes, we’re set with what Master gave us. I’m not sure we need anything right now."
"I’d like some new clothes, though. Especially… undergarments."
Her tone was tinged with embarrassment, and she spoke softly, but it was clear she meant it. She hadn’t mentioned this once while we were staying at Master’s house. A change of mindset, perhaps?
"All right, let’s look for a clothing shop," I said.
"Yeah."
That brought us to a secondhand store. When we asked around, this was the shop everyone recommended. It was decently large for such a place.
But...
"Even secondhand clothes are expensive," Rio muttered.
In this world, where machinery doesn’t exist, even used clothes come at a premium. At least new undergarments were available, even in a secondhand shop.
"Money is tight," I sighed.
I’d never felt this broke before. Living off the land at Master’s house had been simple enough, but now that we were in a city where money could buy anything, the lack of funds was hitting hard.
Still, undergarments were essential. I bought one set for myself, while Rio got two. That left us with barely enough for the bath—just 80 flons remained after reserving 200 for it. Even street food seemed like a luxury at this point.
"We’ll need a bag to carry things back, eventually," I mused. "For now, I guess we’ll manage."
"Tomorrow, we should focus on completing as many requests as possible. Even if we can’t take combat requests, we can still hunt any monsters that attack us," I suggested.
Rio chuckled. "Good point."
"Well, we’re broke, but let’s keep enjoying our date," I said.
Her cheeks turned faintly pink. "A… date? Oh, okay… yeah."
When I casually took her hand, her face grew even redder. She didn’t pull away, though. Instead, she tightened her grip. This adorable reaction… Rio might just be the cutest person alive. Also, who knew I had it in me to hold someone’s hand like this? A first for me.
We continued down the main street, which eventually opened into a large plaza. A canal ran through the area, complete with an artificial pond in the center.
The plaza was bustling with stalls selling everything from jewelry and mysterious trinkets to food and even strange, smoky wares. Truly fitting for a trade city. One shop was selling soap for 200 flons—expensive, but noted for later.
"Ah, I’m sorry!"
While looking around, Rio accidentally bumped into a small child who barely came up to her shoulder.
"It’s okay!" she said, waving as the child darted off.
But something felt off.
"Rio, check your belongings. Did they take anything?"
"Huh? Um… Let me see… Oh!"
She let go of my hand and searched the inside of her robe.
"The leftover medicinal and antidote herbs are gone."
"Anything else?"
"Everything else is in the dimensional storage, so it’s just the herbs."
"Ahaha, what a letdown for them, then."
"It’s not really funny," she said, though she didn’t seem particularly upset. "But if it’s just herbs, I don’t mind."
It didn’t seem worth chasing the kid over this. If this were a novel, this would probably segue into some orphanage subplot, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.
We spent a while exploring the plaza, discovering that the main streets branched off in all four directions, each leading to a city gate. By the time we finished wandering, the sun had started to set. After several hours of walking and exploring, we realized just how large this city was.
Deciding it was time to head back, we returned to the inn.
"Dinner’s 50 flons per person," the innkeeper said.
My jaw dropped.
"What do we do? We don’t have enough," Rio whispered, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
I mean, we knew we were broke, but I hadn’t expected dinner to cost extra. I’d assumed it was included in the room price!
With only 280 flons left, and the bath costing 100 flons each, that left us with just 80 flons for anything else.
"Bath or dinner. That’s the choice," I said dramatically.
"There’s no contest," Rio replied firmly.
Our answer was unanimous.
"Let’s take a bath," we said together.
"All right," the innkeeper said. "The baths are down the hall. If you need a towel and soap set, it’s 30 flons extra."
What?! Soap wasn’t included? But we had no other option. Buying soap outright was too expensive.
"Please," we said in unison.
And just like that, our remaining balance dropped to 20 flons.
But after a long day, soaking in a proper bath with real soap… It was absolutely worth it.